Young people are being engaged in contact lenses as never before but can we be sure this sector, which has grown on innovation, is creating a character that will see it continue to grow?
Contact lenses were created for people who didn’t like wearing glasses. As contact lenses became increasingly accepted they didn’t sell because of the chemistry in the plastics being employed, they met a need and excited people.
The speed and scope of developments in the sector has been staggering. I doubt the average non-wearer has a clue about the lenses available they could be wearing.
The breakthroughs reported from the BCLA, CooperVision’s Force project, Alcon’s Academy and 70th birthday celebrations show the strength in depth of innovation, education and engagement of young people. But has the contact lens sector wrapped itself a little too heavily in a clinical cloak of science?
Contact lens educators recognise Millennials like consensus and customisation. Without taking away anything from the young researchers highlighted in Optician it’s fair to say the emphasis is on science over selling. Is the balance right? Despite huge strides in CLs the market has been stubborn to grow. Profit funds research.
From retail, in an unconnected interview, Vision Express’s CEO Jonathan Lawson talks about the sea change needed in communication, across eye care. Communication the public understands does not diminish the clinical excellence and science underlying the message.
I’m sure there are contact lens aficionados taking off their white coats right now ready to come to the Optician office and punch me on the nose but think of Alcon.
Connor and Alexander were not consensus snowflakes but ballsy entrepreneurs. As Alcon celebrates 70 years we need to know that today’s young trailblazers will be celebrating their 70 years of innovation as the 22nd century dawns.